Coming down the stretch this one was a real cavalry charge, with 15 players within 3 shots of the lead and not surprisingly it took a playoff to decide the winner.
In the end it was another good young Swedish player, Kristoffer Broberg (68) who grabbed his first European Tour title at this BMW Masters on the first playoff hole with a solid birdie putt to beat hard charging Patrick Reed.
Broberg shot 33 on the front nine to get a share of the lead but stalled on the back with just one more for a -17 total. The rest of the chasing pack all had their moments but it was Patrick Reed (66)who charged into contention with four shots in four holes and I thought he'd won it when he holed out from a fairway bunker for eagle on the 15th to get to -18 but he missed a little 4 footer for par on 17 and they both parred the last hole forcing the playoff which Broberg won when he confidently nailed a 15-foot putt down the hill.
It was a dramatic afternoon in Shanghai right down to the final pair where Thongchai Jaidee (71) had a putt on the last to force his way into the play-off, as did rookie Byeong-hun An (70), but they both just missed and had to settle for a share of third at -16 with hard luck Lucas Bjerregaard (70) and Henrik Stenson (68) who birdied the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th to move into the race but couldn't make another to fall just short.
Broberg shot 33 on the front nine to get a share of the lead but stalled on the back with just one more for a -17 total. The rest of the chasing pack all had their moments but it was Patrick Reed (66)who charged into contention with four shots in four holes and I thought he'd won it when he holed out from a fairway bunker for eagle on the 15th to get to -18 but he missed a little 4 footer for par on 17 and they both parred the last hole forcing the playoff which Broberg won when he confidently nailed a 15-foot putt down the hill.
It was a dramatic afternoon in Shanghai right down to the final pair where Thongchai Jaidee (71) had a putt on the last to force his way into the play-off, as did rookie Byeong-hun An (70), but they both just missed and had to settle for a share of third at -16 with hard luck Lucas Bjerregaard (70) and Henrik Stenson (68) who birdied the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th to move into the race but couldn't make another to fall just short.
Paul Casey (69) was right there but his chances disappeared in the water on the 18th while Sergio Garcia (73) eagled the 13th but then dropped three shots in his final two holes including two in the water at 18.
Justin Rose (67) had another great week and T7 with Julien Quesne (66) and Søren Kjeldsen, who shot a low round of the day 64, at 14 under.
Justin Rose (67) had another great week and T7 with Julien Quesne (66) and Søren Kjeldsen, who shot a low round of the day 64, at 14 under.
Going into the season finale in Dubai Rory McIlroy is still the clear leader as Danny Willett finished T28th closing the gap to 1,613 points.
Bryan Angus
Bryan Angus
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